Unemployment rates are a relatively timely indicator of current local economic conditions, particularly recent changes in the employment landscape that reflect the overall health of the economy.

In 2017-21, 9% of African American residents in Norfolk County were unemployed, compared to 4% of Asian and white residents. This is in line with disparities observed at the statewide and national level. Norfolk County's rate among African American residents was higher than Middlesex (7%) while its rate among Hispanic residents (6%) was lower than Essex County (9%) and similar to Middlesex (7%).

Since 2000, the Norfolk County's unemployment rate increased 3 percentage points among African American workers and 2 percentage points among Hispanic workers.

Sample sizes for workers of each race/ethnicity in Brookline and comparison municipalities were too small to report reliably.

While traditional explanations for employment rate disparities focus on education and training gaps, whites tend to be employed at higher rates than Blacks and other people of color at every education level (high school, some college, bachelor's degree, etc.). This has led many researchers to focus on labor market discrimination as a primary cause of higher unemployment among people of color. However, it is also true that education levels are generally lower for people of color, suggesting that the education system's failure to equitably serve people of color is also a contributing factor.

The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.

Data on unemployment by race and ethnicity is only available from the American Community Survey, and it is somewhat different from the total population unemployment data produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics using responses to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. Two different survey methodologies are used (ACS responses are collected by mail, phone and in person; CPS uses phone and in-person interviews), CPS questions on employment are more detailed, and CPS requires that someone be "actively" searching for work (interviewing, calling contacts) in order to qualify as unemployed. In addition, the ACS estimates used here cover a 5-year period, compared to an annual average of monthly estimates presented in the general unemployment indicator. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.